EUROPEAN and US banks have ''shut up shop'' in providing new loans, according to the Indian developer of $10 billion in coal mines and associated rail and port works in central Queensland.

The company, Indian asset and infrastructure manager and investor GVK, plans to retain majority ownership of the three coal mines, along with the planned rail link and port project it acquired control of this year from Gina Rinehart.

The business case for Brisbane's $8 billion cross river rail project will be finished “in the next few months”, raising the possibility of a pre-election announcement.

But Queensland Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday declined to comment when asked what discussions she may have had with the federal government about a potential election eve funding agreement.

Honolulu's rail authority has signed a $1.4 billion contract with Ansaldo Honolulu for the design and construction of train cars for a planned commuter rail line. The contract also covers the maintenance and operation of the rail line after it's built.

A MAN has been lucky to escape alive after he drove his work car into a train at Callington on his way back to work this afternoon.

The Lakkey Test It Tag It worker - who was the only occupant in the Kia sedan - either did not see the railway lights flashing or tried to beat the freight train. The train's locomotive struck the car on its side just before 2pm, propelling it into a nearby paddock.

The car was severely damaged in the collision, while the man - known only as Bradley and who was driving back from a job at Murray Bridge - was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Hi everyone, I don't know whether this will be posted too late for anyone to read, but just letting you all know that for anyone living in the Frankston region or along the Frankston line, there will be a steam-hauled special running along the Frankston Line between 14:35 and 17:00, operated by 707 Operations. I have also heard from a reliable source that the train will be at Frankston Station between 16:00 and 16:30.

THE British Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is embroiled in further controversy after branding people who throw themselves under trains as ''selfish''.

The 51-year-old, who was forced to apologise last week after saying all striking workers should be shot, reiterated his view that those who commit suicide at railway stations cause ''immense'' disruption for commuters.

There were 139 sightings for this week. This is three sighting more than last week, making a total of 5385 sightings for this year to date. On day 337 last year we had recorded 4767 sightings. This is 618 sightings up on the same time last year.

THE State Government will proudly unveil the newly refurbished Clunes train station this weekend — but with one glaring omission.
Contractors working on the $7 million project ripped down the station’s ornate iron verandah and sent parts of it to a scrap merchant.

Local residents are appalled and are still waiting for answers to how the mishap will be fixed.

This week's news that Metro ticket prices are about to jump by twice the rate of inflation reinforces what I've suspected for some time: despite all good intentions, it's just not worth catching the train to work.

And I think thousands of Melburnians in zone-2 suburbs might have arrived at the same conclusion. Even loosely, the maths just don't add up. And it's a simple equation:
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A Metro daily ticket from a zone 2 station into the city? $11.90 from January 1.

Petrol from home to work and back? two to three litres. Parking: less than $10 a day on the city's edge.

Brisbane's $8 billion cross-river rail project will never happen, Liberal National Party leader Campbell Newman has declared, arguing shorter gaps between trains could be part of the solution to looming inner-city capacity problems.

The future of the state government's yet-to-be funded underground rail project is shaping up as a key election issue, amid imminent moves to submit the business case to the federal government's funding body Infrastructure Australia.

The proposed 18km north-south railway line would include 10 kilometres of underground tunnels from Yeerongpilly to Victoria Park.

EXTENSIONS to the Gold Coast light-rail project and three park-and-ride facilities are on the State Government agenda, despite earlier reports that they wouldn't be completed until 2021.

A Government-led industry briefing in Brisbane yesterday to outline various transport projects revealed extensions of the light-rail route at Helensvale, Coolangatta and east to Robina could be fast-tracked ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Establishing park-and-ride facilities at Molendinar, Helensvale and Merrimac will also be looked into as a top priority.

THE state government is poised to make one of the biggest political statements in the Hunter’s history by ripping up the inner-city rail line between Hamilton and Newcastle.
At least that’s been the talk of the town all week.

Woodville Junction at Hamilton is understood to be the preferred terminus, with a green corridor left, allowing for a future light rail service, into the CBD.

Engineers from Japan and China believe they could build a high-speed rail line between Sydney, Canberra and Newcastle for about $30 billion, according to the Australasian Railway Association.

The ARA made the claim to an inquiry into rail costs in NSW yesterday, where it said the costs of tunnelling for major rail projects was falling around the world. If so, that would be a major benefit for the NSW Government's north-west rail link project, which involves a 15km tunnel, Sydney's longest and one of the longer rail tunnels in the world.

A CAMPAIGN to overhaul Harrogate’s railway line is gaining strength thanks to significant new support.

Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce now counts City of York Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire PTE (Metro) and Leeds City Regional Transport Panel among its advocates.

Unanimous votes of support have been given by Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate committee.

There were 131 sightings for this week. This is eight sighting less than last week, making a total of 5516 sightings for this year to date. On day 344 last year we had recorded 4848 sightings. This is 668 sightings up on the same time last year.

IN OPPOSITION, Gladys Berejiklian was a vociferous critic of the RailCorp bureaucracy. Story after story about waste and mismanagement at RailCorp's headquarters at Central Station came with an obligatory damning quote from the then shadow transport spokeswoman. It was her relentless attack-dog approach that won her a place in Barry O'Farrell's heart and succession plans.

Rapidly approaching a year in power, the Transport Minister is finding that turning around the entrenched culture of mediocrity and waste among the 15,000-strong RailCorp workforce is harder than talking about it.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has called for public transport to run around the clock on weekends during the festive season in a bid to get revellers home quicker and address Melbourne's taxi shortage.

Long queues are common for cabs in the CBD and Melbourne's inner-city suburbs and often cause tension as people wrangle over hailing taxis or wait in ranks on their way home from a night out.

Sydney's North West Rail Link will include a 4km skytrain and two extra stations under plans lodged by the NSW government.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell on Monday unveiled plans for the 23km rail line through northwest Sydney, which is expected to cost somewhere between $7.5 and $8.5 billion, and be completed in around a decade.

This year's bumper wheat harvest has exposed a lack of investment in rail infrastructure, with the NSW Government lifting a long-standing curfew on grain truck deliveries, even though it will add millions of dollars to handling costs.

GrainCorp says rail is no longer capable of adequately servicing Port Kembla terminal's grain export program, which now has approval to receive grain by road around the clock, as well as more than double the volume, from 200,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes, and more in exceptional circumstances.

CIVIC leaders and business groups have welcomed news of an imminent decision on the Newcastle rail line. It follows a report in Saturday’s Newcastle Herald that business sources believe the state government will announce early in the new year the creation of a terminus at Woodville Junction.

The Hamilton to Newcastle link would become a green corridor, which could be used for a future light rail service.

Newcastle lord mayor John Tate, whose support for a Woodville Junction interchange goes back a decade, said it remained the best option.

THE Baillieu government has rewarded rail operator Metro with a bonus of more than $2 million for getting Melbourne's trains to run on schedule between July and September.

Metro received a $2.19 million ''incentive payment'' for exceeding its 88 per cent punctuality target in each month of the September quarter, when 90.3 per cent of trains were punctual - meaning they ran less than five minutes late.

The Northland rail network, due to be shut down next July, looks to have won a six-month reprieve.

A critical factor in the change of plan is the possibility of using low-floor wagons which can carry the new "high-cube" containers through existing tunnels, saving millions of dollars in tunnel reconstruction costs.

The larger containers cannot go through about half of the region's tunnels, forcing many customers to move freight by road.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has rubbished claims the $8 billion cross-river rail project is a pipedream, hitting back at opposition predictions the unfunded plan to transform Brisbane's transport network would never happen.

In an end-of-year interview with brisbanetimes.com.au, Ms Bligh described the flagship underground rail project as crucial while admitting she faced an uphill election battle next year.

Ms Bligh said she would ultimately accept the people's judgment but vowed to fight to hold onto the role she still loved, placing jobs, education and environmental protection at the centre of her re-election pitch.

RailCorp won't say whether laptops, mobile phones and other electronic devices sold at its lost property auction were cleaned of sensitive personal information before being sold.

The NSW Privacy Commissioner is already investigating RailCorp for selling 50 USB keys containing personal information to security firm Sophos at the auction on September 10. Sophos had analysed the USB keys and posted its findings on its blog.

The incident raised speculation that the state-owned corporation may not have erased data on other electronic devices sold through Pickles Auctions this year, such as the 2100 mobile phones, 110 iPods, 75 cameras and other devices like laptops and tower computers.

BRISBANE, Australia, Dec 14, 2011 (AFP) - - Australia on Wednesday awarded land to an Indian and a Canadian firm to build a massive US$10 billion coal export port amid forecasts of a long-term boom for energy demand.

Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said India's Adani and Canadian Brookfield Infrastructure Group had each been awarded 190 hectares (469 acres) at northern Dudgeon Point to develop two new coal terminals.

"The proposed two terminals will provide export capacity up to 180 million tonnes per year, that’s 50 million tonnes more than the current capacity at the (nearby) Port of Hay Point," said Bligh.

"This massive project is potentially worth about US$10 billion in investment and would deliver about 5,000 jobs."

A north Queensland environment group says it is concerned about the plan for a new coal terminal, south of Mackay.

Indian-owned Adani Mining and Dudgeon Point Project Management, a subsidiary of the Brookfield Infrastructure Group, have been awarded 190 hectares each for the development of coal terminals at Dudgeon Point in central Queensland.

They will also get land required for infrastructure outside the stockyard.

Future development in the Port of Newcastle will be discussed at two separate forums tonight, including Nathan Tinkler's multi-billion dollar coal loader proposal.

Billionaire mining magnate, Nathan Tinkler's Hunter Ports Group is proposing a fifth coal loader on the former BHP steelworks and Managing Director Steve van Barneveld says a public information session's being held tonight.

"We're talking with the public early in the process to ensure that we hear what they like about our concept but also making sure that we very clearly understand any concerns," he said.

Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo has unveiled Italy's first private high-speed train near Naples, with his company NTV planning to take on a state monopoly in the sector starting next year.

"Finally there will be a period of competition, of choice for travellers, for citizens," Mr Di Montezemolo said, as he inaugurated the train, applauded by about 1,000 employees of French company Alstom which is building the carriages.

The New South Wales Government and the Commonwealth have officially announced a $1 billion project to speed up the movement of freight trains through Sydney.

Premier Barry O'Farrell and federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese headed to Hornsby in Sydney's north this morning to unveil the plans to upgrade the rail corridor between Strathfield and Newcastle.

There were 117 sightings for this week. This is 14 sighting less than last week, making a total of 5633 sightings for this year to date. On day 351 last year we had recorded 4953 sightings. This is 680 sightings up on the same time last year.

THE Australasian Railway Association has begun a study of the economic benefits of high-speed rail for regional areas such as Albury- Wodonga.
It follows the federal government’s announcement it would proceed with the second phase of its investigation into the viability of the train between Brisbane and Melbourne.

Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, a long-time supporter of high-speed rail, said: “Now is the time to keep moving forward on high-speed rail in Australia, exactly when there is a slowing in the northern hemisphere with high-speed rail projects.

MELBOURNE'S City Loop has ''heavy'' concrete corrosion, water ''leaching all over the place'' and emergency systems that should be improved, inspections by Victoria's independent transport safety watchdog have revealed.

Alan Osborne, the man in charge of safety on Victoria's rail system, has called on the Baillieu government to commit significant funds to fix the problems of the city's underground tunnels.

A new era for Queensland coal exports has begun with the opening of a rail link that will unlock a further 50 million tonnes each year.

Acting Premier Andrew Fraser on Monday opened the Goonyella to Abbot Point rail link, north of Moranbah in central Queensland.

Known as the "northern missing link", the 69-kilometre line increases the capacity of Queensland's coal exports by 50 million tonnes a year through the Abbot Point port by bridging the gap between the Goonyella and Newlands rail systems.

A vandal attack at a busy Melbourne railway station overnight appears to be linked to an incident at the station earlier in the week in which part of a man’s hand was severed while he was allegedly running away from police.

North Melbourne railway station was trashed overnight, with police and Metro targeted in numerous graffiti attacks all over the platforms.

‘‘A man is chased under a train by inspectors ... and cops... NO EXCUSE,’’ the vandalism reads.

RAIL operators QR National and Asciano today signed new 10-year deals to haul millions of tonnes of coal for Rio Tinto from its Queensland mines.

QR National, Australia's largest rail freight company, said in a statement that its contract leverages its $1.1 billion Goonyella-to-Abbot Point expansion project.

In statements to the Australian Securities Exchange, QR National said it would haul 3 million tonnes per year from Rio Tinto's Blair Athol/Clermont operations, while Asciano will move a combined 8.5mt from the miner's Hail Creek and Kestral mines, all located in Queensland's coal-rich Bowen Basin.

IN WHAT state authorities are calling a ''streamlining'' of rail services, trains from Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo will no longer stop at North Melbourne station once a $5 billion railway line through Melbourne's west is completed in 2016.

The authority behind the Regional Rail Link - which is designed to speed up V/Line services from the west by separating them from suburban trains - confirmed that trains from regional centres that now pass through North Melbourne would no longer stop there once works were completed in four years.

About 5:30 pm tonight, loaded El Zorro grainy from Birchip was approaching the Sunraysia Hwy level crossing to the south of Donald when a wagon about halfway through the consist, WGSY 2008C, lost a bogie and ripped up about 300 metres of track including across the crossing, blocking the Sunraysia Hwy.

Locos G521, S302 and the X were at the point. Train split with the next 7 wagons coming off the track, but remaining upright.

Every city has its sacred cows. Try telling a Sydneysider that the harbour is a little underwhelming, or a Brisbanite that the weather is not all it's cracked up to be. You probably won't be invited back.

In Melbourne we have our fair share of icons that are not up for discussion. The MCG (Australia's premier sporting venue); our laneways (unique); our coffee (the best in the world). Stray from the accepted script and you'll find the process of social interaction in this city challenging.

OZ Minerals says the potential loss from a train derailment in the Northern Territory is not considered financially material and it expects to meet its planned shipments in the first quarter of 2012.

The company said late on Wednesday a train travelling to Darwin carrying about 1,500 dry tonnes of copper concentrate from Prominent Hill derailed in bad weather near Edith River in the Northern Territory.

The shipment was valued at about $US7 million ($A6.91 million) to $US8 million ($A7.90 million), OZ Minerals said.

THE creation of a "fat carriage" for people who may be discriminated against by others because of their size was among thousands of suggestions, complaints and compliments received by Queensland Rail in the past year.

People who took up more than one seat, quiet-carriage vigilantes and slow or late trains were among other gripes raised by passengers in the 12 months to November.

In total, almost 10,000 pieces of feedback were received by the passenger train operator, including 7697 complaints, 1227 compliments, 608 inquires and 243 suggestions.

PLANS to boost train services along the Dandenong corridor could have a disastrous impact on road traffic, with some major routes tipped to be almost perpetually blocked by boom gates in peak periods unless more level crossings are removed.

A secret letter to the Baillieu government predicts peak-hour gridlock in some suburbs by 2018 if much-needed boosts to train services go ahead.

While the government has promised to remove 10 of Melbourne's level crossings, the letter says at least another two along the Dandenong corridor will have to go - putting more pressure on the state budget - to deal with the traffic crisis.
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The warning came in a letter to Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder in June by VicRoads chief executive Gary Liddle and Department of Transport director Hector McKenzie.

The letter, obtained by freedom-of-information request, said: ''If more peak-hour trains are added to the Dandenong line, by 2018 or earlier, boom barriers at many crossings are forecast to be closed for 70 per cent to 90 per cent of peak periods … Realistically, some crossings will be effectively closed during peak periods.''

GREENWICH, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 27, 2011-- Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) (NYSE: GWR) today reported that a train operated by its subsidiary Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd (GWA) derailed in the vicinity of the Edith River bridge approximately 40 km north of Katherine, Northern Territory, at approximately 5:45 a.m. local time December 27.